


man and monster;

by bloodynargles



Series: adelita reyes; [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, but idk i might change my canon, inspired by the christmas comic bye, this is au from my canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 21:13:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8939530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodynargles/pseuds/bloodynargles
Summary: Some nights he can pretend that Gabriel had died when Reaper was made, but then there's others that blurs the lines between man and monster a little too much.





	

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by the panel of reaper in the new comic. im sorry.

His eyes settle upon a young couple with a kid, a boy, and his mind flickers back to the remnants of memories he has of Ava and Adelita. Bouncing the small nine month old softly on his knee as his eyes skimmed tiredly over documents, the soft baby babble making comfortable background noise as the minutes dwindled by. Ava had lectured him many times about taking their daughter to work in the early days, before everything went to shit prior to everything going to _complete shit_. He remembers putting her hair into pigtails and watching as she bounced, eager to start her first day at preschool with a bright smile on her face. It blinds him and he blinks away from the memory to see that the family has walked on, his instincts to move setting his feet in motion as he glides back into the dark alleyway he had come from.

 

He can still hear her wails. Her screeching for her mother and flailing as his words failed him, failed  _her_. Sometimes she would cry at night, a six year old in turmoil because her mother had left her side and never returned. He couldn't answer her pleas and questions, he didn't _know_ what to say when he knew nothing. Ava had left them both, and suddenly he didn't know what to do as he cradled his world in his arms.

He supposes she had resented him for that.

 

It is hard to be noticed in the shadows when you are one with them, and streets become blurs as he heads to his destination. Bright lights dim as he gets to the quieter part of town and a familiar coffee shop comes into his view, the warm lighting beckons him, but this is his curse.

 

She had inherited his curls, hanging loose around her shoulders as she squinted up at him. “ _Papi_.” There was a grumpy why-did-you-wake-me look gracing her features and he chuckled softly before picking her up, wandering over to the window and pressing his finger against the glass. “Look, cariño.”

The light and wonder that had graced her face at the sight of snow on Christmas Eve was of the likes he didn't deserve, but it was a memory he cherished hungrily, like it could slip from him at any moment.

A figure wraps their coat around themselves tighter as they walk out of the cafe, and he finds himself moving along with them, sticking to alleyways and the shadows, memorising every little mannerism as if he would never lay eyes on them again.

 

 

She was thirteen.

He remembers fear, and pain. He remembers hearing her singing as his eyelids slid shut.

 

“Hey, papi. It's Christmas Eve! ..i..” A partially gloved hand reaches for the top of the tombstone, resting it there while they sucked in shaking breaths. “I miss you, you know? I wish you were here.” Sobs pull at their chest as they sag, head dropping in defeat, a loss over the tears that burn at their eyes. “Do you remember when you'd wake me to see the first snow every year? You have me in a habit now, papi, I can't break it.” Her voice trails off as she looks away, gripping the top of the tombstone harder, trying to stop her tears but still they fall, and her breaths pull at her chest every time she takes one. “I just.. I want to go home, papi. I want to go _back_ , I need you back. Oh _god_..”

 

The world sits silent for a moment, and it feels like an eternity from where he lurks, pain flashing in his chest and he wants to _hug_ her. But he is the monster in the stories her mama used to read to her at night.

“If i did anything wrong back then.. I..” She sobs and he can feel time stop as terror filled him at the thought of Adelita blaming _herself_ for one moment. “I used to think.. that you would come back like you always did. You know, limp in through the door a little broken but entirely fixable - but I.. I suppose I stopped dreaming after a while. After you never did.”

The brunette sucks in a shaky breath as brown orbs glance around the graveyard, the moon full in the sky above and the soft hum of cars close by bring her back to a sense of time. “I’ll be here in a couple of days, got the weekend off, so..” Her hand pats at the gravestone before slipping off, fingers balling into a fist at her side as they come to rest there. “Goodnight, papi. I love you.”

 

Her figure retreats and he stays rooted the the spot, eyes watching her go until she fades from his view. Some nights he can pretend that Gabriel had died when Reaper was made, but then there's others that blurs the lines between man and monster a little too much.

  
“Love you too, cariño.”

**Author's Note:**

> ;-;


End file.
